Abstract

[Abstract]: This project aims to investigate Coal Seam Gas (CSG) as an alternative fuel for stationary gas turbine engines. CSG is a new and emerging technology especially in Queensland which has extensive and very attainable reserves. Technological and infrastructural developments are making CSG more attainable and more cost effective as an alternative fuel for domestic use, as a replacement for petrol and diesel fuels, heating and cooling, and also for export.
There are two essential facets of this project being a detailed analysis of the transportation and distribution issues, and the development of a small scale gas turbine engine.
The model turbine has been built as a basis for experiment to compare fuel consumption, and thermal efficiency of CSG compared to another appropriate fossil fuel.
Transportation and distribution will be analysed through research into CSG extraction and refinement, existing CSG infrastructure, expected points of use in the context of stationary jet engines, and the required infrastructure to provide the gas to the expected points of use.
Based on the research and preliminary testing conducted in this report it was concluded that CSG is a very feasible fuel which will only become cheaper with time due to significant investments in infrastructure and technology relating to CSG. The running cost calculations based on the model engine’s collected test data provided a running cost saving of 58.1% for CNG over LPG. This is a significant margin which does not consider case by case variables such as specific infrastructure installation costs however does allow for significant initial investment due to the significant saving in running costs.